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Language Access & Inclusion Bill

About the Bill
Bill Highlights
Contact Your Legislators
Talking Points & Sample Tweets
Write a Letter to the Editor
Read More
About the Bill
Contact Your Legislators
Social Media
Write a Letter
Read More
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About the Bill

Full title: An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion (H.3084 / S.1990)

Lead Sponsors: Rep. Adrian Madaro & Rep Carlos González; Sen. Sal DiDomenico

Committee: State Administration and Regulatory Oversight

 

The Issue

Massachusetts is home to a vibrant immigrant community. One in six Massachusetts residents is an immigrant, while one in seven residents is a native-born US citizen with at least one immigrant parent.

Massachusetts, correspondingly, is home to great linguistic diversity: more than 1 out of 4 residents report speaking a language other than English at home, with the most common languages being Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese (including Mandarin and Cantonese), Vietnamese, and Russian. However, as the pandemic demonstrated, our state agencies and departments have a patchwork of different policies around language accessibility, and there is no current statute to ensure that non-English speaking residents have a fair and equitable opportunity to obtain an education, apply for benefits, receive housing assistance, or represent themselves in court.

 

The Solution

This bill would strengthen our state government’s ability to meet the needs of all residents by 

  • requiring all public-facing agencies, and the outside service providers they rely on, to offer interpretation services and translate vital documents for non-English speakers
  • providing minimum standards for language access plans across departments, giving them the force of law, and requiring regular data collection to evaluate need 
  • requiring public-facing agencies to employ statewide and regional language access coordinators
  • Creating a language access advisory board to provide technical assistance and support in implementing the law 
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Contact Your Legislators

Find your legislators’ contact information here.

Please co-sponsor and advocate for An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion (H.3084 / S.1990), filed by Rep. Adrian Madaro & Rep Carlos González and Sen. Sal DiDomenico.

Massachusetts is home to a vibrant immigrant community. One in six Massachusetts residents is an immigrant, while one in seven residents is a native-born US citizen with at least one immigrant parent.

Massachusetts, correspondingly, is home to great linguistic diversity: more than 1 out of 4 residents report speaking a language other than English at home. However, as the pandemic demonstrated, our state agencies and departments have a patchwork of different policies around language accessibility, and there is no current statute to ensure that non-English speaking residents have a fair and equitable opportunity to obtain an education, apply for benefits, receive housing assistance, or represent themselves in court. 

 This bill would mandate that public-facing state agencies provide interpretation services and translate vital documents in non-English languages. Moreover, the bill would create an advisory board to represent affected communities, enforce minimum standards for these services, and ensure adequate staffing needs are met.

Everyone should be able to interact with and seek help from their own government, no matter what language they speak.

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Talking Points & Sample Tweets

  • When state agencies only provide services in English, thousands of MA families are denied access to the resources they need to thrive. We need #LanguageAccessForAll! #mapoli #massspeaks
  • Language access is critical for the well-being and daily lives of so many people living in our Commonwealth. We need to pass the #LanguageAccessandInclusionAct. #mapoli #massspeaks
  • Non-English-speaking residents deserve to have equal access to all government services. We need #LanguageAccessForAll! Beacon Hill should listen to the @mass_speaks coalition and pass the #LanguageAccessandInclusionAct. #mapoli
  • Everyone should be able to interact with and seek help from their own government, no matter what language they speak. I’m proud to support the Language Access and Inclusion Act with @mass_speaks #mapoli
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Write a Letter to the Editor

Adapt the template below! Or email us at issues@progressivemass.com for help!

Massachusetts is home to a vibrant immigrant community. One in six Massachusetts residents is an immigrant, while one in seven residents is a native-born US citizen with at least one immigrant parent. We correspondingly have an impressive degree of linguistic diversity, with more than 1 out of 4 residents reporting speaking a language other than English at home.

However, as the pandemic demonstrated, our state agencies and departments have a patchwork of different policies around language accessibility, and there is no current statute to ensure that non-English speaking residents have a fair and equitable opportunity to obtain an education, apply for benefits, receive housing assistance, or represent themselves in court. If we don’t address this, we will continue to leave too many people behind. 

The Mass Speaks Coalition has a solution: a bill, first filed in 2021, entitled An Act Relative to Language Access and Inclusion (H.3084/S.1990). This bill would mandate that public-facing state agencies provide interpretation services and translate vital documents in non-English languages. Moreover, the bill would create an advisory board to represent affected communities, enforce minimum standards for these services, and ensure adequate staffing needs are met.

Everyone should be able to interact with and seek help from their own government, no matter what language they speak. It’s time to pass this bill this session.  [Thank your legislators for supporting the bill or call on them to do so]. 

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